George Sutherland

“ The court said (page 482 of 219 U.S., 31 S.C.t. 265, 270) : 'The agreement between the railroad company and the Mottleys must necessarily be regarded as having been made subject to the possibility that, at some future time, Congress might so exert its whole constitutional power in regulating interstate commerce as to render that agreement unenforceable, or to impair its value. That the exercise of such power may be hampered or restricted to any extent by contracts previously made between individuals or corporations is inconceivable. ”

“ The framers of the Constitution never intended any such state of things to exist.'
There is nothing in the findings or in the circumstances to suggest that the manufacturer sustained any injury from the requisition itself, since the government undertook to carry out the contracts, and its credit was certainly not inferior to that of the original purchaser. The injury resulted, not from the requisition, but from the subsequent cancellation of the contracts. ”

“ Petitioner, a manufacturer of marine steam turbines, prior to January 12, 1918, had entered into thirteen written contracts with various firms and corporations for the manufacture of steam turbine propulsion units for ships. ”

“ The present controversy concerns three of these contracts (the other ten having been fully performed) , the first for the construction of four marine turbine sets at the contract price of $150,000, the second for the construction of ten marine turbine sets at the contract price of $735,000, and the third for the construction of four marine turbine sets at the contract price of $216,000. ”

“ From the total of these items, certain deductions, including a payment by the Fleet Corporation of 75 per cent. of the amount which it had awarded, were made, resulting in an award of $84,074.34, with interest thereon from August 17, 1920. ”